Turkey Pot Pie Baked in a Mini Pumpkin, Topped with Puff Pastry and Everything Bagel Spice

Tis the season for left over turkey, and what to do with it! Turkey sandwiches on thick sourdough bread with cranberry sauce, Havarti and sliced apples. Turkey pot pie, Turkey Tetrazzini, Homemade Turkey Soup. The list goes on and on. If your going to have family in town. Just go all out and make these gorgeous turkey pot pies inside of a baby pumpkin and top with a pre-made puff pastry. Cut out extra leaves and tendrils and decorate them if you wish.

Mini pumpkins are in season, but it is a very brief season and most mini pumpkins are gone by Thanksgiving, so make sure to buy extras and fill your refrigerator so that you will have them on hand. They will stay fresh 2-3 weeks in the refrigerator. Clean them out, but save the seeds. They make a great healthy snack filled with vitamins especially magnesium and zinc. Easy to roast in 12 minutes and kids love them.

Bake the empty, cleaned pumpkins the day before if you wish, fill them, place in refrigerator and then bake the next day. Just make sure you do not put the puff pastry on top until you are ready to bake them.

Active Prep Time: 30 minutes

Baking Time: 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes

Serves 4-5 depending on the size of your pumpkin

Ingredients:

4-5 l- ½ lb whole mini sugar pumpkins

2 1/2 cups chopped turkey (or chicken)

5 Tbs butter

1 medium white onion, chopped (about 1 cup)

8 oz button mushrooms

3 ½ cups chicken broth

1 ½ cup milk

1 ½ cup tiny potatoes with skin on, cut in half

½ cup sliced celery

1 cup sliced mini carrots

1 cup peas

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 ½ tsp dried thyme

2 Tbs fresh parsley, chopped

1 teaspoon sage

1 ½ tsp salt

½ tsp freshly grated black pepper

1 package frozen puff pastry, thawed

Egg wash mixture (2 egg yolks, with 1 Tbs water, mixed well)

Everything Bagel Spice (I got mine at Trader Joes)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Hold pumpkin on the side on a cutting board. Slice off top of pumpkin. Scrape out seeds and threads. Wash the seeds and dry on parchment paper if you intend to roast them. If not, just throw away the insides of pumpkin. Rub the inside of the pumpkins with olive oil and lightly sprinkle salt on them.

Place the cleaned pumpkins on a cookie sheet, place their tops back on. Wrap foil around the entire cookie sheet. Place in oven. Bake for 30 minutes. This can all be done the day before if you wish to save time.

Meanwhile, thaw your puff pastry.

Saute the onions and celery until just translucent in 2 Tbs butter. Then, add the carrots and saute another 2 minutes on low heat being careful not to burn. Remove from pan, set aside. Saute the mushrooms in another 1 Tbs of butter, remove from pan and set aside. Melt the remaining 2 Tbs of butter, whisk in the 2 Tbs of flour and let cook just 30 seconds. This is your roux that will facilitate thickening your sauce. Warm the chicken broth and the milk in the microwave or on the stove. Add the liquids to your roux (butter mixture). Add the potatoes, the carrots and the peas and simmer for 2 minutes. Then return the onions and the mushrooms to the pan. Add the nutmeg, thyme, sage, parlsey, salt, and black pepper. Simmer another 5 minutes or so. Adjust the alt to your liking by adding more. You can also add another ½ tsp of dried thyme is you want a more savory flavor.When the sauce has thickened a bit, pour into the individual pumpkins. Top with puff pastry rounds. I also cut small little pieces out of the puff pastry to mimic leaves, a round stem and tendrils. Brush the pastry dough with the egg wash mixture. Sprinkle the puff pastry with everything bagel spice. Place in middle rack in the oven and bake for about 45 minutes depending on pumpkin size.

Serve. Make sure to tell your guests to scrape down the sides of the pumpkins with their spoon to get the yummy pumpkin goodness in their pot pie!